Andy, there's nothing like Thundercat wisdom to brighten one's day =).
Anyway, below is my professor's reply (he's good), as well as my own:
<<Ramon:
Paradoxically, your letter accepting failure but resolving to work, shows
that you have understood one of the most important things the Gita was
trying to tell you. However, I think you need to consider a couple of
other points. Your main problem isn't with this course, it is with your
basic tendency to indulge yourself. The trick is to get yourself to do
what your "duty" directs you to do. If you are a warrior, you go to
battle. If you are a teacher you get ready for class. If you are a
student, you read and study. But how do you do this? That's where Karma
Yoga comes in. In the words of the Nike commercial--YOU JUST DO IT. You
have control over your body. Do this. Stand up! I mean it Ramon. You
are sitting in a chair, right? Just stand up. . . . There, see. You
did it. And it is equally easy to sit down and open your book. They are
just bodily movements. Distractions arise, but we you have to learn to
ignore them, or deal with them and get back to what we were doing. If your
habits are strong, this isn't easy. But it can be done--it just takes a
little self-consciousness and practice, and a good memory.
But now looking at your total situation, it isn't clear to me that your
best move AS A STUDENT is to spend that time in an effort that can't
succeed. And this is because you have to consider your total
situation. Think of the warrior analogy. If you are running a war and
have lost a city, you don't send more troops to that city--but figure out
how to use those troops elsewhere. Let us suppose that you have learned
how to stand up when you want to--that you are now determined to bear down
for the rest of the semester. Then I have to ask, what is the situation
with your other courses? Maybe you should devote your efforts to doing as
well in them as possible. And as for Hinduism, it is still there and you
can take it again (if it is offered) and even wipe out the E, right? But
you would not be taking it to wipe out the E, you would be taking it
because you want to learn about it. And if and when you do that, you can
start properly, and not fall behind.
When I finally learned to JUST DO IT, I was helped by finally understanding
how good it feels to be ready, and how bad it feels to be unprepared,
behind, baffled, ignorant, dazed and confused.
I'm not sure what your best course is--and you are welcome to come to the
class. But since you will have missed both days I talked about ontology, I
think it would be self-mutilation to come in Tuesday and try to take the
quiz.
What do you think?
rtg>>
My reply:
<<Professor,
Analogies go a long way with me, and the "stand up" "sit down" exercise was
quite helpful, as well as the "Just Do It" one, which I think I remember you
discussed in class, and didn't fully comprehend until now.
The thing with duty that troubles me is that you can get different courses
of action for different duties. For example, if your duty is to never harm
a living thing, then it is such. But if your duty is to be a soldier, it
differs. While a priest may never go into a battle and suffer these
conflicting duties, it's quite feasible for someone like a nuclear scientist
to have them, if he has a duty to do his job of creating better killing
devices, but feels it's immoral, yet needs the money to perform his duty as
a person who supports his family.
You're right about the duty of a student, which is to best perform this
duty, it may be better to look at the total picture instead of just one
class, and that my duty as a student may be better performed by focusing my
efforts on the other classes. It gets a little shady if one tries to define
the exact duty of a student, though, and this gives me a little pause. For
example, if my duty as a student is to get the highest total grade, then
focusing my efforts on my other classes is a better plan. But if my duty as
a student is something like "to learn as much as possible", then I should go
to all my classes (one could counter this by pointing out I could just take
this class again and learn it later, but then you could also say that
learning the second half twice is better than learning it once).
A friend actually told me (I called 932-INFO to verify, and it did) that if
I somehow managed to get a "D" in the course, it would serve against me,
because if you retake a course you had an "F" in, the "F" shows in the
transcript, but it's GPA is replaced with the new one, and the cum GPA
averages out again. With a "D", the "D" is replaced by the grade on the
transcript, but both numbers average in. Why this is, I don't know.
It, however, makes the case to focus on the other classes stronger,
especially if my duty as a student is defined under the total GPA one. It
also makes a point that for the duty of "to learn as much as possible" that
perhaps a better course might be to just attend lectures and not do the
work.
But again, this duty problem for me raises its ugly head. To be honest, the
GPA definition doesn't really appeal to me, and while I prefer the
definition of a student's duty being "to learn", going to class and not
taking the quizzes and the final is pretty discouraging.
I'm thinking that maybe the best course of action to satisfy as much as
possible (another possible definition of duty) might be to finish the course
like I would any other, and if it noticeably begins to intefere with my
other courses, slacken off on it, or just quit altogether.
This whole message, of course, crumbles completely if I misunderstood duty
altogether. Does it hold water?
-Ramon
PS - I didn't realize the quiz was so soon, and yes, missing both lectures
would make taking it almost futile. I'll think more about the quiz and
final aspects of this course and figure out a plan soon.>>
Opinions?
-Ramon http://razor.ramon.com
lol..........